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Topic Review (Newest First)

03-03-2014 10:57 PM

brembo

Re-visiting this a bit here.

I have been keeping tabs on myself with my dogs since I posted in this thread and have learned something. I do in fact interact with my dogs in a face-to-face way very very often. It's so ingrained in my personality/day to day that i didn't really consider that I do in fact "get up in my dog's faces".

When I come home I drop to a knee and hug/pat/rub the dogs as they go through the normal greeting spaz-out. Both dogs moan and whine and yip and nose bump my face/head with extreme regularity. I often lean over and allow them to come over and rub heads. At bedtime both usually give me a final once over and a night-night lick on the face. I get random drive-by lickings if I am down at dog head height as well. So, I have to say that I do in fact get lots of doggie facetime. It's so much a part of how my dogs communicate that I didn't realize just how much it happens.

"70 percent of bites happen to children under the age of ten. More than 60 percent of the children bitten are boys, and 87 percent are white. Children are most frequently bitten (61 percent of the time) when they come in contact with the dog’s food or possessions."

And these numbers make it more then evident that children and dogs need to be taught. I like living in a house that I'm not on edge in.

03-01-2014 07:30 AM

MadLab

I think a main point with dogs and personal space is for children and adults to act in such a way as to avoid a dog feeling like it needs to snap at them to give it space.

Any situation should be gauged depending on the temperament of the dog and how the children behave.

I've seen children hug my dog and sometimes it is ok, but generally i will explain to them to not go hugging a dog which is lying down resting and to leave it alone.

You won't really see dogs hugging or putting there paws on other dogs unless play-fighting , dominating or humping. So maybe dogs see hugging in a different way from us humans.

I also ask children to lift their chin and look to the side of the dog when passing dogs so they don't get licked and so they are not making eye contact with the dog when passing or show any fear. Chin up and to the side is showing a dog you respect it and are not interested in it imo. There are some interesting theories from Martin mackenna a self proclaimed dread-locked dog whisperer in his youtube videos. A different and more basic approach. Similar theory with CM, no touch talk eye contact.

Again it is relative with the children and the dog. If a dog grows up with the children and sleeps in their rooms etc they are gonna have a different relationship than if they meet once a week or a month.

03-01-2014 03:59 AM

David Winners

Interesting dog bite data from http://www.amazon.com/The-Genius-Dogs-Smarter-Think/dp/0525953191?tag=donations09-20
"70 percent of bites happen to children under the age of ten. More than 60 percent of the children bitten are boys, and 87 percent are white. Children are most frequently bitten (61 percent of the time) when they come in contact with the dog’s food or possessions."

Well, then, let's discuss the training we do.
I worked to train "give" and "leave it." I also worked on "bring."

Hans's favorite toy is his blue Wigzi ball. A K9 trainer who evaluated him said Hans would do anything for that ball. I keep that ball, he gets it when I give it to him, and he needs to do things to earn it. Either watch me, or sit, or down, he has to do something before he gets that ball. When he is penned, I take it away. That ball appears when I am around to interact with him.

He has growled a couple of times when I moved to take it out of his mouth. When that happened, I used the give command, and he gave it to me. Then, we did more obedience.

This is showing the dog that he doesn't have anything to worry about. He will get the ball back, through interaction with you.

We also use that ball to have him search. I close him up somewhere, I go hide it in the house, and then open the door and release him to find his toy. The reward is fetch with it.

We train patience when opening and closing doors, he is not allowed to rush outside. He knows the quiet command and stops barking when asked. He knows wait, come, stay, and stop. He knows "let me see" which I use to inspect his teeth, belly, or any place on his body I think needs to be checked (he has lots of skin problems.)

As far as food is concerned, he automatically sits when he sees me with the food bowl and looks into my eyes until I release him to eat.
There are several others, but that is the gist of what we do. Pet obedience.
I look forward to suggestions. I would like to do more with him.

It sounds like you have a good relationship. As for doing "more", I would find an activity that you both enjoy. I like nosework, but I am biased LOL. It is something you can do anywhere, in any weather, for any length of time.

02-28-2014 10:59 PM

David Winners

Sorry for the late reply. I'm playing catch up. Been a busy couple of days / nights.

It is hard to say without seeing the dog before and after. Did the dog move to block the object after? Did the dog move to block you after? How was the dog with the person away from the ball?

Good information to chew on. So, let me take it one more step (and get free advice while I'm at it!).....

If you have a dog that has never showed any form of resource guarding. A dog who is normally friendly to everyone, doesn't have 'space' issues. But one day this dog decides he doesn't like a new individual. He shows this by ignoring him, not aggression. The handler is standing near the new person, playing fetch with a toy with said dog. The dog brings the toy to the handler and drops it, waiting for it to be thrown again. New person reaches down for toy (which is between the handlers feet) and dog 'tags' person, then sits and watches new person. (By tag I mean the dog didn't use it's teeth, but bumped him with his snout).

Just in your general opinion - would this be a space issue, or a resource issue, or could it be both? I understood the tag to be a warning. But I couldn't figure out what the warning was for. Was it for the toy, or was it for the handler, or was it for space? Could it be all three?

If it helps, I just tested both theories! Rocky has never been "mouth fed" so I grabbed a hot dog put it in my teeth and let him take. Yep, I got a dog with no problems and yep he thought it was pretty cool!

He looked around on the floor for a minuet and then looked up! Oh cool he thought and took the hotdog very gentle from me!

Added note...he has wobblers, sooo that made it a little exciting as he steadied his head to home in!

dang Chip you were not supposed to try that yourself. I'm going to pull those video's down. That's a great way to get hurt with an adult dog you haven't trained to do that!

The dogs come to you... they learn good things come from being close to face.

If it helps, I just tested both theories! Rocky has never been "mouth fed" so I grabbed a hot dog put it in my teeth and let him take. Yep, I got a dog with no problems and yep he thought it was pretty cool!

He looked around on the floor for a minuet and then looked up! Oh cool he thought and took the hotdog very gentle from me!

Added note...he has wobblers, sooo that made it a little exciting as he steadied his head to home in!

Now for John Q. Public. This is where I start getting wishy washy. I, personally would not knowingly take a dog to a public place without being sure of their response. But, to be sure if their response, you have to take them. So I generally pick smaller events, or go in knowing that I may have to leave if it proves overwhelming to my dog.

Yep did that. My guy flat did not like people! Did not know if he had any past bad experiences but something was off. (low growl greeted out first guest I used a muzzle (fabric muzzle) and instituted a "No you can't touch way dog policy" after awhile no more muzzle, Still no touch for a bit more time. Then when I could read him and knew what he looked like when he was calm, I finally allowed people to touch him...no problem.